Author: Official Release

Friday, Sept. 24, 2010

Denny Darnell

Scott Sebastian

Dover International Speedway

Dodge Motorsports PR

AAA 400

Post-Qualifying Quotes

KURT BUSCH (No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger) Qualified 9th “A solid run for us. We did a good job keeping up with a hot, slick race track. We improved from our practice qualifying run to our actually qualifying lap. It’s tough when it’s this hot. I noticed that I couldn’t get back to the throttle fast enough. I got back in the gas between Turns 3 and 4 and our Miller Lite Dodge just wouldn’t come back down the track quick enough. I was waiting for the front-end to stop sliding and when you have to do that, it costs you about a tenth of a second. To be inside the top 10 is pretty solid.

HOW MUCH DOES THIS HEAT PUT YOUR CAR ON A FINE LINE TODAY? “A lot. It’s like you get the front a little bit too tight or you’re a little bit too loose in the rear of the car. Ten years ago today was my first Cup qualifying attempt and I was 10th. Ten years later and I’m ninth. It took me 10 years to improve one position (laughs).”

WHAT DO YOU REMEMBER ABOUT THAT FIRST QUALIFYING ATTEMPT 10 YEARS AGO? “It was out of control. I remember driving the John Deere car into the corners as deep and hard as I could because that’s what I thought that you needed to do. Afterward, Dale (Earnhardt Sr.) came up to me and said, ‘Son, I didn’t think you were going to lift heading into the corner.’ Maybe after 10 years, I learned that you don’t have to overdrive the corners here.”

SAM HORNISH JR (No. 77 Mobil 1 Dodge Charger) Qualified 22nd “Not a bad lap for the Mobil 1 Dodge. Just a little bit too free on landing coming out of the corner. I just couldn’t stick with it like I wanted to. The car is just moving around a lot more than I want it to. This tire that Goodyear brought is just a lot more flexible and it really never feels like your stable. We’re trying to get use to that and figure out what’s too much. Track conditions are going to change throughout the weekend with the weather cooling off a bit. We’ll keep tuning on it and get ready for Sunday.”

BRAD KESELOWSKI (No. 12 Penske Racing Dodge Charger) Qualified 32nd “We gained very little today. The track will be way different on Sunday. Hopefully, the changing conditions will allow our car to race better. That just wasn’t what we were looking for with our Penske Racing Dodge.”

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
AAA 400
DOVER INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
SEPTEMBER 24, 2010

RICHARD CHILDRESS, OWNER OF RICHARD CHILDRESS RACING, met with media and discussed the infraction and penalties following Clint Bowyer’s win at Loudon last weekend. Full Transcript:

“Really I don’t have a lot more to say than we said in our press release.   Three things that stand out to me that we said in the press release is that #1 we were close at Richmond.  And they told us don’t bring the car back.  They were going to look at the car after New Hampshire. 

Well, I hope the integrity that RCR and Richard Childress has built-up over the forty-plus years in this sport………..we wouldn’t be…and I will use the words dumb enough, stupid enough to bring a car to the race track that we know is out of the tolerances. 

Two, I can assure you…..and I looked at the numbers personally and looked at the cars on the plates before they went to New Hampshire that those cars were legal when they left. 

And three, the only thing that we can come up with is why was the car a thickness of a penny over the tolerance – which was sixty-thousandths……….why the car got up there…..the only thing we can say is that when the wrecker hit the car and a couple other people hit it…Jaime (McMurray) got into it and who knows what really happened there.  And I don’t think anyone could look us square in the face and say without a shadow of a doubt that that wrecker couldn’t have moved that car sixty-thousandths. That is where we stand today and we appreciate the press working with us and not that I didn’t want to talk to a lot of you that asked earlier today, but I felt it was better to just make a statement and…..thank ya’ll.”

HOW BIG IS THE TOLERANCE ON THE CARS AND HOW CLOSE DO YOU THINK YOU GUYS SHOULD BE AND SECOND OF ALL SOME PEOPLE INCLUDING DENNY HAMLIM, THEY HAD HEARD FOR MONTHS THAT YOU GUYS WERE TOO CLOSE TO THE TOLERANCE

“Well I think everybody gets close and you are competitors.  When you get closer to racing for a win, they always think you are cheating.  Hell, everybody thought for years that Jimmie Johnson might have been cheating but that is the competitors and they have the right to say what they feel.  I don’t ever try and throw a competitor under the bus.  We try and go out and beat them on the track. 

Second the tolerances that NASCAR gives on this issue I think, again I think because I haven’t seen it in writing but the numbers we were told in thickness were ten-thousandths over a penny. I don’t know.  That is what we were told and everybody gets as close and if you are going to weigh a car and its supposed to weigh 3400 lbs, then you are going to get it on 3400 lbs.  That is the competitor in everybody.  You get it as close as you can and we got close at Richmond, but we haven’t crossed the border. And how this happened………the only thing we can come up with is that.”

KNOWING THE HISTORY OF THE APPEAL PROCESS, WHAT DO YOU THINK YOUR CHANCES ARE?

“All I am going to ask for is a fair appeal. That is all I want, is a fair appeal. And I have only in the history of RCR………..I don’t think we have been but to maybe three appeals. Didn’t win any of them.”

REGARDING THE TOW TRUCK CAUSING SOME DAMAGE TO THE CAR, IT SEEMS LIKE NASCAR HAS DISMISSED IT. DO YOU THINK THEY WILL LISTEN FURTHER DURING THE APPEAL PROCESS?

“That’s what the appeal is for is to have an appeal board to hear both sides of the store. Hopefully we can present a case enough to know that being bumped pretty severe a couple of times by a tow truck is enough to move it sixty thousandths.”

YOU TALKED ABOUT YOUR 40 YEARS OF INTEGRITY, DO YOU FEEL THIS DAMAGES IT AT ALL OR PUTS A CLOUD OVER YOUR COMEBACK OVER THE LAST YEAR?

“Well, I don’t think it puts a cloud over it because we haven’t been out of the box. This is the first time that they’ve said we were out of the box. Everybody gets close to the lines, no matter what the tolerance of the engine is supposed to be; 358 you’re at 357.9.  I think that timing for our sport with sponsors is pretty critical right now for anything to happen to a team.”

YOU SAID YOU HOPE FOR A FAIR APPEAL, CAN YOU DEFINE THAT? AND HOW DO YOU TRY TO PROVE TO THREE INDIVIDUALS THAT A TOW TRUCK OR SOMETHING ELSE DID THIS AND THAT THIS WASN’T SOMETHING THAT WAS DONE IN THE SHOP? HOW ARE YOU GOING TO PROVE THIS IN YOUR APPEAL?

“We have some ways to do it. We’ll have to save that for the appeal and how we’re going to approach that. A fair appeal is three men that do understand the sport and understand things that could happen that could change this out of our environment.”

FROM A POSITIVE STANDPOINT, CAN YOU TALK ABOUT STILL HAVING THREE TEAMS IN THE CHASE AFTER NOT HAVING ANY LAST YEAR AND ALSO ABOUT THIS TURNAROUND AND WHAT WENT INTO IT?

“A lot of work went into it. We did have new cars up there but the cars that we brought up there, the bodies were legal. The thing that we had when we started out the Chase was brand new brakes, brand new radiators, brand new hoses; every piece on those cars are brand new. When we say we brought brand new cars, you’re in a box. You can’t go but so far. What we did, we invested in components, parts, pieces, spindles, hubs, rear housings, you name it; millions of dollars here to win this championship with brand new race cars. And by you saying brand new race cars, that’s every component where we don’t have failures.

“And I’m proud of our team and I’m going to walk just as high; I ain’t going to take a step out of the way for nobody, and I’m going to look anybody in the eye because I know what we did. I know what we’ve done to get us here, and we haven’t cheated to get here. I can look everybody in the eye and walk down through here. We have did as much as anybody in the sport to get back where we’re at. We’ve spent millions of dollars and put the right people in place and a sixteenth of an inch isn’t going to make me have a cloud over my head.”

DO YOU HAVE A UNIFIED WAY OF MEASURING ALL THE CARS THE SAME? THE NO. 31 AND THE NO. 29 WERE CLEAR, SO DOES THE SAME PERSON OR GROUP MEASURE ALL THREE CARS THE SAME WAY? DENNY HAMLIN SAID THAT THE GARAGE HAS KNOWN FOR MONTHS THAT THIS HAS BEEN GOING ON AND THAT YOU ALL WERE WARNED BEFORE RICHMOND. CAN YOU COMMENT ON THAT?

“The last one (question), I would be bad to say what I really want to say. Bite your lip. Okay. The first one (question) we have one of the most sophisticated measuring systems in the sport. And we measure every car and we know where we’re at to the thousandths. It’s the GPS system set-up in our race shop that we know where we’re at when we leave and we know without a shadow of a doubt that that car left within the tolerances, well within the tolerances.”

About Chevrolet: Chevrolet is a global automotive brand, with annual sales of about 3.5 million vehicles in more than 130 countries. Chevrolet provides consumers with fuel-efficient, safe and reliable vehicles that deliver high quality, expressive design, spirited performance and value. In the U.S., the Chevrolet portfolio includes: iconic performance cars, such as Corvette and Camaro; dependable, long lasting pickups and SUVs, such as Silverado and Suburban; and award-winning passenger cars and crossovers, such as Malibu, Equinox and Traverse. Chevrolet also offers “gas-friendly to gas-free” solutions including the Cruze Eco and Volt, both arriving in late 2010. Cruze Eco will offer up to 40 mpg highway while the Chevrolet Volt will offer up to 40 miles of electric, gas-free driving and an additional 300 miles of extended range (based on GM testing; official EPA estimates not yet available). Most new Chevrolet models offer OnStar safety, security, and convenience technologies including OnStar Hands-Free Calling, Automatic Crash Response, and Stolen Vehicle Slowdown. More information regarding Chevrolet models, fuel solutions, and OnStar availability can be found at www.chevrolet.com.

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES

AAA 400

DOVER INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY

TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT

SEPTEMBER 24, 2010

JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S/KOBALT TOOLS CHEVROLET, met with members of the media at Dover International Speedway and discussed racing at Dover, his Foundation Benefit, the penalty for the No. 33, rules and other topics. Full transcript:

 

HOW DID PRACTICE GO TODAY? “We’ll see how it goes. The track is surprisingly rubbered-up for what we are used to seeing at this point. I think it has thrown a lot of the teams for a little bit of a loop with their setups. We are used to a little bit more of a green race track right now and a track that has a little bit more grip in some respects. Certainly a challenging practice session. Qualifying is going to be interesting. It is only going to get hotter and more slick with the cars that are on the race track. I wouldn’t be surprised if we see a couple of cars get turned around in qualifying and make for an exciting qualifying session.”

THE CONVERSATION WITH THE DRIVERS IN HERE TODAY HAS CENTERED AROUND THE PENALTY FOR THE NO. 33 CAR-DENNY HAMLIN WAS IN HERE AND SAID HE THAT HE WAS NOT SHOCKED, BECAUSE WORD HAD BEEN AROUND THE GARAGE FOR MONTHS THEY WERE PUSHING IT TOO FAR. YOU HAVE BEEN THROUGH THE WARNING PROCESS, WERE YOU SHOCKED ABOUT THE NO. 33? DID YOU KNOW OR HAD YOU HEARD THAT THEY WERE PUSHING IT? “I heard something after Richmond and frankly after Richmond, the statement that was released, I was excited to hear that because of the situation we were in and people felt that we may have been illegal and NASCAR didn’t want to nail us on it…which is complete bs. At the end of the day, NASCAR has made it very clear, to us with what we experienced in Sonoma two years ago maybe and then as the Car of Tomorrow has come along, that there is zero tolerance. It doesn’t matter if it only the thickness of a quarter. They don’t care. I hate that the No. 33 is in the position but NASCAR has to be consistent with what they do. Zero tolerance is zero tolerance. There is no ‘I’m sorry, you are close’. It is black or white. I’ve experienced it on my own as some other teams have and now the No. 33 is going through it was well. But I didn’t not know there were multiple warnings to them.  When you are warned, it is kind of a weird situation because as a race team, that is your job to push it right up to the edge. So we’ve been there before and faced with the decision, you have to back off a little bit. They are warning you, you are too close to the tolerances and with cars that are made of steel that can get bumped around, moved around and for whatever reason, it’s contact on track, it’s a tow truck, a push truck, whatever it is, you have to leave yourself some room to be on the right side of the line.”

IN NASCAR THE PRECEDENT WAS SET LONG AGO THEY WOULD NOT TAKE AWAY WINS, DO YOU AGREE, DISAGREE WITH THAT? DO YOU UNDERSTAND WHY THAT IS? “It is all I have ever know. So with the penalties as stiff as they are now, yes, you do get the trophy and a check mark in the book, but the penalty is so stiff. It’s hard to say. The days of just blatantly doing something to get around a rule from NASCAR are far behind us. We are just dealing with very tight tolerances on weekly basis and try to find that advantage you live close to the line. All I have ever known is points and fines and the win stays. So to me, it is something I haven’t really thought about and no big deal.”

THE TALK ABOUT TWEAKING THE CHASE, NUMBER OF DRIVERS, TRACKS, SYSTEM, WHICH WITH WHAT YOU HAVE DONE OVER THE LAST FOUR YEARS, YOU LIKE IT I WOULD ASSUME, DO YOU SEE SOME TWEAKS IN THE CHASE NEXT YEAR? “There are questions surrounding that all the time and to be honest with you, I don’t care what the points system is, how many drivers, what tracks, I will show up and do everything I can to try and win the championship. I could care less. (SMILES)  Whatever the scenario is, I’ll race it and I feel like our team is strong enough to be competitive in any format.”

WHEN CLINT WAS IN HERE EARLIER, HE GAVE A LONG AND SPIRITED DEFENSE OF HIS TEAM AND MENTIONED THAT THERE MAY HAVE BEEN OTHER CARS THAT WERE ILLEGAL AT NEW HAMPSHIRE AND POINTED TO YOU AND DENNY HAMLIN FOR HAVING TO GO THROUGH THE HEIGHT STICKS TWICE. I’M SURE THAT COMES AS A COMPLETE SURPRISE TO YOU, RIGHT? “Man, our car was so illegal, it was ridiculous, I’m surprised it even passed period. (SMILED AND SAID JOKINGLY) I didn’t even know, I heard about that. I just saw something where he was holding up a quarter. Man, I don’t know what goes on through tech, I didn’t even know our car was in question or had to go through the sticks twice. But, I don’t care. I just drive the car. Show up with my helmet and go. I have been nailed plenty of time. Let’s just stir things up…NASCAR gave the No. 11 and the No. 48 a little slack and let us roll through and wanted to nail the No. 33…we’ll just take that angle and have some fun with it.. Let’s just play into it because regardless of what I say, people are going to believe that. So, the hell with it, let’s just ride it.”

WHEN GOING THE FEELING OF GOING BACK HOME TO CALIFORNIA AND WHAT IS GOING TO BE ON YOUR SCHEDULE WHEN YOU GO BACK FOR IN A COUPLE OF WEEKS? “Excited to go back. We have our Jimmie Johnson Foundation major fund raiser that takes place in my hometown, the area of my hometown I should say. We do a lot of great things, raise some money for a variety of things. This year it is again going to be a grant system for school districts in the area. I’m very excited to go back although there is a lot of work for me going home for the golf tournament and the dinner that is beforehand. But I really enjoy the race track. I enjoy the weather, the atmosphere, In N Out Burger, Mexican restaurants I am fond of in the area. It is always good to go home. There is a certain feeling about it. I won my first race there. My 48^th race there and there are a lot of cool things about that race track for me. Oh yea, fish tacos, lots of lime. Post race at a Corona to the mix and we are in good shape.”

 

WHEN YOU LOOK AT CLINT AS A COMPETITOR ON THE TRACK, DO YOU LOOK AT HIM AS A GUY THAT IS 35 POINTS OUT OF THE LEAD OR A GUY THAT IS 185 POINTS OUT? “Where they are mathematically is kind of where they are. Clint, aside from all the other discussions earlier and having fun with saying our cars are illegal and they just want to nail the No. 33, he and that team have done an amazing job and they are a very serious threat to the championship. Again, you have to go back to the deal that there is zero tolerance with this new car. Opinions can be formed in all different direction, but there is zero tolerance with the COT and I learned that first hand. So, all that said, Clint and that team are a serious threat. Clint has had a lot of momentum on his side and running really strong leading up to the New Hampshire race. They are in a deep hole, we will just have to see how it plays out for them. But, he and his team are doing a great job.”

HAVE YOU GOT A TRACK THAT YOU KIND OF CONSIDER IS KIND OF TOUGH FOR YOU IN THE CHASE AND YOU HAVE TO GET THROUGH? “In the last few years, Atlanta has been that track for me, when I think about a track and performance. But its not in the Chase any longer. Looking forward, I don’t think I have an option. I think my bad race is hopefully behind me in New Hampshire which I anticipated finishing a lot better in. We had some troubles on the short run, but we had a good car and I got up to the front from starting 25^th. Was running well, we unfortunately had a problem with a right front wheel. I guess looking forward, all nine need to be good for me with the position I am in right now.”

TALK ABOUT GOING TO KANSAS: “For a mile-and-a-half, I think that Chicago and Kansas are pretty similar. In years past, mile-and-a-halfs have been our bread and butter and have been really good for us. And Kansas has a really cool transition in and off the corners where you can run second and third lane. It is pretty friendly and you can search around and try to find a line. The asphalt has aged pretty quick there too which has allowed us to run multiple lanes and move around. So in general, it is a track with options. For a mile-and-a-half race track, it has a lot of options and I have enjoyed racing there over the years and have been able to get a win there.”

About Chevrolet: Chevrolet is a global automotive brand, with annual sales of about 3.5 million vehicles in more than 130 countries. Chevrolet provides consumers with fuel-efficient, safe and reliable vehicles that deliver high quality, expressive design, spirited performance and value. In the U.S., the Chevrolet portfolio includes: iconic performance cars, such as Corvette and Camaro; dependable, long lasting pickups and SUVs, such as Silverado and Suburban; and award-winning passenger cars and crossovers, such as Malibu, Equinox and Traverse. Chevrolet also offers “gas-friendly to gas-free” solutions including the Cruze Eco and Volt, both arriving in late 2010. Cruze Eco will offer up to 40 mpg highway while the Chevrolet Volt will offer up to 40 miles of electric, gas-free driving and an additional 300 miles of extended range (based on GM testing; official EPA estimates not yet available). Most new Chevrolet models offer OnStar safety, security, and convenience technologies including OnStar Hands-Free Calling, Automatic Crash Response, and Stolen Vehicle Slowdown. More information regarding Chevrolet models, fuel solutions, and OnStar availability can be found at www.chevrolet.com.

Matt Kenseth, driver of the No. 17 Crown Royal Ford Fusion, is 11th in
the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series point standings after last week’s race at
New Hampshire Motor Speedway and trails leader Denny Hamlin by 136
points.  He spoke with members of the media after Friday’s Dover Cup
practice.

MATT KENSETH – No. 17 Crown Royal Ford Fusion – HOW WAS YOUR TRIP TO
WALTER REED YESTERDAY?  “It was fun.  It’s the second time I’ve been
there, but it’s always fun to go up there and see some of the troops
and hang out with them a little bit and talk to them.”  SHOULD WINS BE
TAKEN AWAY FROM TEAMS THAT ARE FOUND TO BE ILLEGAL AFTER THE RACE?  “I
just think they should be consistent, what that is.  I don’t know a
lot about what was wrong or the penalty, but I think as long as
they’re consistent everybody is happy with that.”  WHAT ARE YOUR
THOUGHTS ON DOVER THIS WEEKEND?  “I always look forward to coming here
to Dover, so we’ll look forward to trying to get qualified today and
try to get our car a little better for tomorrow.  We didn’t start off
good again off the truck, so hopefully we can get a good lap and learn
some things in practice to be decent for Sunday.  I always like coming
here.  I always look forward to it.  It’s one of the tracks I have a
lot of confidence at, but you still have to get your car to go fast.”
CLINT BOWYER SAID HE THOUGHT A LOT OF CARS WERE OVER THE EDGE AND HE
WAS MADE AN EXAMPLE OF.  DO YOU FEEL GUYS ARE OVER THE LINE WITH THEIR
CARS?  “I don’t know a lot about it.  NASCAR set the precedent early
that they’re gonna be real serious with this car and if anything is
out of tolerance, that’s what was gonna happen.  That’s why they give
you a little bit of tolerance.  Of course, with everybody being racers
and trying to get everything you can out of it, you’re gonna push as
close as you can to the tolerance.  Actually, I think if you look
through the last six or seven years, there has probably been less
people fined and fewer infractions and fines or penalities for things
being wrong with cars than there ever has been.  Like I said, I don’t
know a lot about it, but it seems like it happens less than it used
to.”  CAN YOU SPEAK TO THE CREW CHIEF CHANGE OF DREW TO THE 6 CAR AND
WHAT THAT MEANS WITHIN THE ORGANIZATION?  “I don’t know much about
that either.  To be honest with you, I probably found out about the
same time you guys did.  I don’t know a lot about what’s going on
there.  Obviously, they’re trying to get David to run better and UPS
to run better I imagine.  I think Donnie is certainly one of the
better and more respected crew chiefs around the garage.  I don’t know
the whole idea for the change.  Drew is more than capable of doing the
job as well, so I guess sometimes you just mix things up and hope they
go a little smoother.”  CAN CLINT RECOVER FROM LOSING 150 POINTS AND
JUMPING 11 OTHER DRIVERS?  “It depends how you run.  If you run like
Clint ran last week and can run like that in the top three or four
every week, and be up there and lead laps and be in contention to win
– you can make up a lot of points fast, and there are some races where
people could lose a lot of points fast.  You never know.  Stranger
things have probably happened, but it puts you in a pretty big hole.
It’s tough to come out of that, but the I think the first thing you’ve
got to look at is their performance and see how they perform.”  KANSAS
IS NEXT WEEK.  WHAT IS SIMILAR AND DIFFERENT TO THAT TRACK AND
CHICAGO?  “They’re really similar from the time you drive in there.
Everywhere looks a lot like Chicago.  You can tell the same people
built them at the same time.  It’s a good race track, it’s just a
little flatter than Chicago.  I think that’s about it.  The pavement
is about the same age and it acts a lot like Chicago.  Some tracks are
real similar.  They’re both good tracks.”

WHAT DO YOU RECALL ABOUT YOUR CUP DEBUT HERE
AT DOVER WHEN YOU SUBBED FOR BILL ELLIOTT?  DID THAT GET YOU TO WHERE
YOU ARE TODAY?  “No, I think it’s more than one weekend, but that
weekend was obviously under unfortunate circumstances with Bill’s
father passing away.  Once I got to get in the car and work with Mike
Beam and Joe Garone and those guys it was one of the more fun days
I’ve ever had at a race track.  There was no pressure and no
expectations.  I wasn’t planning on doing that, so I had about a
half-hour to think about it.  It was a lot of fun.  It would be hard
to duplicate that and have that much fun.  I remember there was one
time we were running second to Mark and we were ahead of Rusty and
Gordon and Earnhardt and all those guys I used to watch.  Every other
week I was watching the race on TV on Sundays, and I got to race
against a lot of those guys.  Like I said, it was probably one of the
most fun times I’ve ever had in a race car, honestly.  We had a good
time.”  DID THEY RECRUIT YOU THAT DAY OR THE DAY BEFORE?  “No, it was
about an hour before practice on Friday.”

FORD RACING NOTES AND QUOTES        AAA 400 Advance, Page 5                       
September 24, 2010        Dover International Speedway               

Greg Biffle, driver of the No. 16 3M Ford Fusion, is eighth in the
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings after one Chase race.  Biffle, who
won this race in 2008, met with reporters in the Dover International
Speedway infield media center before qualifying.

GREG BIFFLE – No. 16 3M Ford Fusion – YOU’VE HAD GOOD SUCCESS HERE AT
DOVER.  “Yeah, it really is.  We were pretty good in practice and in
practice qualifying the car is driving the way we like it to be.
We’re still thinking about Loudon and Richmond, why we’re not running
as good as we want to be there, so it gives us a little concern for
Phoenix and Martinsville, possibly, but as far as this race track goes
we’re running good and think we have a decent car and a chance for a
top-five starting spot.  We’re ready to go get a good run under our
belt here.”  THERE WAS SOME SUGGESTION THAT IT’S BEEN KNOWN IN THE
GARAGE FOR A WHILE THAT THE 33 HAD BEEN MANIPULATING THE CHASSIS AFTER
CERTIFICATION.  HAD YOU HEARD THAT BEFORE?  “I haven’t heard
absolutely anything about that.  I never even heard about the Richmond
deal and them being warned or if they were on the edge.  The last
thing I remember is the 48 and the 5 controversy, where they ended up
not fining them and they were within, I think they called it a piece
of paper of stepping over the line and it was getting so close that it
was hard to regulate or hard to make the decision if they were legal
or illegal.  That’s the last on the body stuff and rules that I’ve
heard.”  CAN YOU TALK ABOUT WHY ROUSH AND FORD HAVE BEEN SO GOOD AT
THIS TRACK?  “It’s odd why.   We wonder that as well.  Why do we run
good at certain places?  Why do we run good at Michigan?  Why do we
run good here?  We do we run well at Darlington, Homestead?  I think
it’s one of those race tracks that suits your driving style, suits
your cars, and maybe something that we’re missing on all those other
tracks don’t make that much of a difference here, aren’t as much of an
emphasis.  Whether it’s front suspension or bump stops or who knows
what?  The deal is why it doesn’t make as big of a difference here as
it does at some other tracks, so maybe that’s a reason why.  But we
often try to isolate why we run better here than there or wherever.
We’re trying to figure it out just as much because we’d like to run
this good everywhere, and it’s just not that easy for us.  It’s a
tough race track and the driver’s ability makes up a little bit more
of it, and then the car has to make up the rest.”  ARE YOU CONFIDENT
YOU’RE COMPETING ON A LEVEL PLAYING FIELD?  “Whoever cheats the best
wins, that’s the old say, right?  That’s an old joke and an old saying
that’s been around forever.  That probably has something to do with
it.  I mean, it’s not cheating until you get caught and whoever cheats
the best wins.  Those are all the sayings that are around.  I know one
thing.  When we merged our organization, the Petty cars had better
downforce on the back of their cars and we knew that because we blew
ours in the windtunnel and saw a difference.  I won’t talk about how
much the difference was, but we went to Phoenix and tested and,
artificially not legally, added the downforce to make it like the
other car and it was about a tenth of a second per lap faster
consistently throughout.  It just gave it a bunch more grip.  I was
like, ‘Wow.’  If you could have that all the time, it made the car
drive a lot better and gave it a lot more grip off the corner.  If you
multiplied that by two or three, that would be a big difference
between one car and the next in the body work.  I feel like we’re
playing on a fairly level playing field, I really do.  The 9 cars were
legal.  The moral of the story is they were legal and we were legal,
there was just a little different build or maybe closer to the rule.
I don’t know how to say what was different about it, but all I know is
the number was different.  We matched the number and the car picked up
speed, so if there’s more out there than that, yeah, it makes a
difference.  I don’t even know what was wrong with the 33 car.  I
heard the body didn’t meet specifications and things like that.
Normally when that happens, it makes more downforce or makes more
sideforce or makes more something.”

FORD RACING NOTES AND QUOTES        AAA 400 Advance, Page 6                       
September 24, 2010        Dover International Speedway               

GREG BIFFLE CONTINUED — THERE HAVE BEEN THREE OR FOUR CREW CHIEF
SWAPS WITHING ROUSH FENWAY THIS YEAR.  WHAT IS THE BENEFIT OF ALL THAT
DEPTH AND DO YOU WORRY THEY MIGHT TAKE ERWIN AWAY FROM YOU?  “Yeah,
they’ve been trying but I’ve got handcuffs on him.  They’ve talked
about trying to make some changes in engineering and things like that,
and shifting guys around because  a lot of times you find success in
that by kind of freshening up the pot.  There’s been a lot of success
in our sport switching around guys and teams, not only with Roush
Fenway but there has been a lot of success in our sport from that.  So
I think they’re looking for the chemistry between the team and the
driver and the crew guys.  Erwin and I get along well.  We understand
each other and I think I have a good engineer in Ben and a good crew
chief in Erwin.  We work well together right now.”  WHY KEEP ALL OF
THOSE GUYS IN THE SHOP ALL THE TIME AND NOT LOOK OUTSIDE THE
ORGANIZATION WHO COULD BRING SOME FRESH IDEAS?  “That’s a good
question.  I don’t make all those decisions.  We have brought in guys
from outside before and possibly we bring somebody in from outside in
the future, but I don’t really make those decisions.  I think Jack is
trying to do it within the organization right now.”  WOULD YOU LIKE TO
SEE NASCAR LOOK AT ALL THE CARS?  “I’d be all for it because the way I
understand the system works is we take the chassis and the body over
to the R&D Center and get it certified.  So if you bring it home and
change it, then it’s not legal anymore.  But keep in mind that if you
bring it home and you scrape it up and put a new panel on here or
there, I don’t think it goes back and gets re-certified for every
single change that is made.  But if you’re bringing it home and
cutting it apart, then it’s not gonna be legal anymore.  Could they
take every car?  That’s why they have top 10 and a random and they
take them to the R&D Center.”  SHOULD THEY TAKE ALL OF THEM DURING THE
CHASE?  “This discussion came up last year, I remember it.  The
randoms come from the chase drivers.  I remember that discussion and
it’s not a bad idea, but you don’t want to turn your head to the guys
13th on back that they have free reign – ‘we’re not gonna get checked
so we’re just gonna build whatever we can to try and win races right
now.’  So you’ve got to still keep it within reason.  We often sit
back and look at, ‘Are we doing enough?  Are we close enough to the
edge of the rule?  Can we get our cars better and faster by pushing
the envelope a little bit?  Everybody wonders that same thing, but I
wouldn’t be opposed to them taking everybody.  I was the same with the
drug testing.  Just line them all up after the driver’s meeting or
before – just check it like that.”  WILL THERE EVER BE A SITUATION
THAT ONCE THE CAR LEAVES THE R&D CENTER IT HASN’T BEEN ALTERED?
“Idon’t know, but I’m gonna defend NASCAR on this point.  They do give
tolerance, so if you take something to the R&D Center and it checks,
and then you go out and race it and bring it back and it doesn’t
check, they know these cars hit the race track, hit the walls – had to
put a right-rear quarterpanel on it.  But when both quarterpanels
don’t match and both roof heights don’t match – when multiple things
aren’t adding up it’s just plain and simple.  I think they’ve been
pretty tolerant of making sure it’s not a racing incident or you
legitimately put on a right quarterpanel and it’s not perfect.  I feel
like they understand that and they’re pretty fair about that.”  WHAT
ABOUT THE TOW TRUCK SCENARIO?  “Let’s cut to the chase.  If your
bumper corners are off.  The decklid structure where the spoiler is
mounted, that stuff is not gonna move unless it’s really wrecked.  And
then up where the trunk lid hinges are, all that stuff is not gonna
move by getting pushed by a tow truck, and the roof corners and up
where the oil tank is mounted.  If it is, there’s gonna be buckles in
the metal.  If you look at a car and it got hit at Daytona or
Talladega restrictor plate racing and the tin is buckled on the
inside.  That’s what we look at.  When we hit the wall out here, we
look inside to see if we see any wrinkles in the tin.  That tells us
it’s moved, so I would have to say they looked in there and said, ‘We
don’t see where the tow truck bent it down.’  I don’t know what the
claims are, but that’s what they would do and see that it clearly
hasn’t been moved by that.  I don’t know.”
FORD RACING NOTES AND QUOTES        AAA 400 Advance, Page 7                       
September 24, 2010        Dover International Speedway               

GREG BIFFLE CONTINUED — DO YOU THINK NASCAR SHOULD HAVE TOUGHER
INSPECTION PROCEDURES AT THE TRACK SO YOU DON’T HAVE TO WAIT THREE
DAYS TO FIND OUT IF A GUY IS LEGAL OR NOT?  “I agree with you that
they should be able to have some kind of test rig here that maybe they
could check the chassis alignment here.  Maybe they could build
something to be portable more than stationary back at the shop, but
the thing about that is it’s a cumbersome piece of equipment or
chassis plate that they use to check, and they probably have roamers
or more sophisticated tooling there that they can check it with, but
that’s the other reason why NASCAR does not take the win away.  We
have the same winner and he still has the trophy and his name is in
the book that they’re gonna print for the rest of our lives.  That’s
the way NASCAR has done this.  There is an argument there as well is
do they lose the win and the trophy?  You get to keep the win and the
trophy, but they take the points and the money back.  I agree with
you.  If they brought that equipment to the race track – I don’t say
never, you guys know more than I do, whether they’ve ever disqualified
the winner and said the number two guy gets the trophy and the money.
That’s basically what you’re getting at is, Let’s test it here before
we shut the lights out and determine whether he gets the trophy, the
money, the points and the whole deal – not fine him, just kick him out
completely and start with the number two guy – put him up there and
check him at the track.  There could be a case made for that.  That’s
not a bad idea.  Whether it’s logistically possible, I don’t know
that.”

Roush Fenway Chase History: A look back at Dover – Sept. 21, 2008CONCORD, N.C. (Sept. 24, 2010) — Roush Fenway’s September 2008 performance at the “Monster Mile” was not only one of the strongest in the organization’s history in the Chase, but one of the strongest in the team’s racing history.

For the last 40 laps of the race Carl Edwards, Matt Kenseth and Greg Biffle battled for the race lead, with all three cars leading during that period. Biffle eventually took the lead from Kenseth with nine laps to go and held off his charging teammates for the victory.

“I’m obliged to be on the winning pit box whenever the checkered flag comes out,” said team owner Jack Roush. “I was in a quandary today.”

When the dust had settled over the Monster Mile of Dover, the results of Roush’s quandary were his cars sitting in first, second and third positions, with Biffle taking the checkered flag; followed by teammates Kenseth and Edwards. The trio combined to lead 250 of 400 laps on the day. It was Biffle’s second consecutive win to start the Chase and the organization’s second consecutive Dover Chase win. Edwards left Dover with the point lead, with Biffle in third and Kenseth in 10^th.

“I was just hoping they didn’t get tangled up in a hairball coming off turn four on that last lap,” said Roush after the race. “Although I have always said I looked forward to the day I could see two or three of my cars battling it out for the victory coming off of turn four; we certainly got that today.”

“There couldn’t be a better third-place finish,” said Edwards after the race. “We’re leading the points, with my teammates finishing in front of me.”

This weekend Biffle, Edwards and Kenseth will again look to battle it out for the win at the Monster Mile. The Roush Fenway organization has totaled eight wins there, including two inside the Chase for the Sprint Cup. They will look to repeat that feat again this weekend.

Sunday’s Sprint Cup race is set for 1:00 p.m. and will be televised live on ESPN.

Roush Fenway Racing is NASCAR’s largest team operating eight motorsports teams.  Four in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series with drivers Matt Kenseth, Greg Biffle, Carl Edwards and David Ragan; and five in the Nationwide Series with Edwards, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Colin Braun, Brian Ickler, Paul Menard and Erik Darnell.  For more information on any of the Roush Fenway Racing teams, log onto www.RoushFenway.com.  Become a fan of Roush Fenway Racing on Facebook by going to http://www.facebook.com/roushfenway and follow us on Twitter @roushfenway.  For sponsorship inquiries please contact Robin Johnson at 704.720.4645.

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES

AAA 400

DOVER INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY

TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT

SEPTEMBER 24, 2010

TONY STEWART, NO. 14 OFFICE DEPOT/OLD SPICE CHEVROLET met with media and discussed racing at Dover, the Chase, and more. Full Transcript:

WHAT DO YOU TAKE AWAY FROM THE FIRST PRACTICE SESSION?

“Well, that we are 25^th right now. We’ve got some work to do. The times are really close. If you gain two-tenths, you’re in the top five. We’ve just got to find a little bit more for qualifying here.”

WITH THE FORECAST SO DIFFERENT ON SUNDAY, ARE YOU WORKING ON QUALIFYING NOW OR JUST YOUR RACE SET-UP?

‘We did our normal deal. We did about two-thirds of the practice in race trim and then switched over to qualifying trim so we kind of stayed the same course we always do.”

AS A TEAM OWNER, WHAT IS YOUR UNDERSTANDING OF HOW YOU OVERLOOK STUFF OR DOUBLE-CHECK AFTER THIS WEEK?

“I’m not sure what the question is.”

WELL AFTER THIS WEEK, A LOT OF TEAMS ARE PAYING EXTRA ATTENTION TO THINGS

“We’re not doing anything any different then we always have. Everybody on our side at Stewart-Haas is doing everything just like we’ve been for 27 weeks now. So, we’re not doing anything any different.”

AFTER THE AGGRESSIVE NATURE OF LAST WEEK’S RACE AT LOUDON, DO YOU THINK IT WILL BE THE SAME HERE AT DOVER?

“I’d say guys are going to be pretty aggressive. It’s not going to be any different than it normally is. Last week’s race wasn’t a different race than what we normally see because people were paying attention more to the guys because it was a Chase race. The race itself wasn’t different. The guys didn’t race any different. They raced just as hard as they always do.”

ON FUEL MILEAGE AT LOUDON, DID YOU THINK YOU ACTUALLY HAD MORE GAS THAN YOU DID?

“I don’t know. You’d have to ask Darian (Grubb) that question. I don’t think I did a good enough job of saving fuel during the run and during the cautions, so I take responsibility for it.”

HOW FAR INTO THE CHASE WILL IT BE BEFORE YOU KNOW THE TOP CONTENDERS?

“I have no idea. How can anybody possibly know until you run each feature race? I mean, that’s just common sense tells you that you can’t tell. Every week something can happen just like what we had this week or somebody getting crashed on the last lap. I don’t know how anybody can tell that.”

ON GOING TO KANSAS CITY:

“It’s the same thing as everywhere else. You’ve got to get your car to turn and be good back to the gas.”

WHAT DISTINGUISHES THAT 1.5-MILE TRACK FROM THE OTHERS.

“They copied it from Chicago or Chicago copied off of them (Kansas); it’s no different than most of the 1.5-miles we go to, it’s a copied race track.”

YOU HAVE TWO WINNERS HERE, POTENTIALLY FOR THE OFFICE DEPOT SMALL BUSINESS DEAL AND THEY WANT TO WIN A MILLION DOLLARS, WHICH IS PRETTY EXCITING. WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT BEING IN THEIR PLACE?

“Yeah, it’s a great position to be in and hopefully Greg and I have good runs and hopefully one of us; if we can’t win it, I’d like to see Greg win it this week just to help somebody win a million dollars, that’s pretty cool that Office Depot is giving to small businesses in this economy an opportunity. And they’ve won already. I mean they’re already winners. They’ve already gotten small business makeovers and now they’ve got a chance to hopefully win a million dollars.”

About Chevrolet: Chevrolet is a global automotive brand, with annual sales of about 3.5 million vehicles in more than 130 countries. Chevrolet provides consumers with fuel-efficient, safe and reliable vehicles that deliver high quality, expressive design, spirited performance and value. In the U.S., the Chevrolet portfolio includes: iconic performance cars, such as Corvette and Camaro; dependable, long lasting pickups and SUVs, such as Silverado and Suburban; and award-winning passenger cars and crossovers, such as Malibu, Equinox and Traverse. Chevrolet also offers “gas-friendly to gas-free” solutions including the Cruze Eco and Volt, both arriving in late 2010. Cruze Eco will offer up to 40 mpg highway while the Chevrolet Volt will offer up to 40 miles of electric, gas-free driving and an additional 300 miles of extended range (based on GM testing; official EPA estimates not yet available). Most new Chevrolet models offer OnStar safety, security, and convenience technologies including OnStar Hands-Free Calling, Automatic Crash Response, and Stolen Vehicle Slowdown. More information regarding Chevrolet models, fuel solutions, and OnStar availability can be found at www.chevrolet.com.

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES

AAA 400

DOVER INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY

TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT

SEPTEMBER 24, 2010

KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 29 SHELL-PENNZOIL CHEVROLET, met with members of the media at Dover International Speedway and discussed racing at Dover, RCR and the penalty to the No. 33 and other topics. Full transcript:

ARE YOU WORRIED ABOUT ANY OF YOUR CARS AT ALL AFTER WHAT HAPPENED LAST WEEKEND? “No”

WHY NOT? “Because our cars have been through inspection a 100 times this year and they have been to the R&D center and there is just no reason to be so they have sat on the shop floor and been prepared just as they had planned to be.”

ARE YOU CONCERNED ABOUT THE REPUTATION OF RCR AND THIS COULD HURT IT?

“I think anytime you have something that goes wrong you want to rectify the problem and I think obviously that is a pretty big deal to Richard and I think he feels pretty strongly about where he stands on everything and will go forward.  So when you have got a guy like Richard Childress who has been a part of this sport for as long as he has and the reputation that he has with his cars on the racetrack I think you have to look at that and say, ‘the guys are pretty honest guys’, so things happen and everybody pushes the limits whether its right or wrong I don’t know but it happens.”

ABOUT THE “BOYS HAVE AT IT”.  I THINK LAST WEEK THAT WAS PRETTY MUCH EVIDENCED BUT WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THAT HERE AT DOVER THIS WEEK?

“I don’t think so.  I think because the speeds are so much higher and the fact that Loudon is really hard to pass and you have to kind of force the issue sometimes and things happen and people run into each other there.   I think everybody will race hard but I don’t think you can have as much beating and banging as you did last week.”

CAN YOU PREVIEW KANSAS FOR US? “I am worried about Dover right now.”

HOW DO YOU VIEW CLINT RIGHT NOW IN THE CHASE?  A GUY THAT IS 35 POINTS BEHIND THE LEADER OR 185 POINTS?  “I haven’t really thought about that.”

IS THAT A DISTRACTION EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENED LAST WEEK OR DO YOU GUYS STAY FOCUSED ON YOUR JOB? “It really hasn’t changed anything that we do and we haven’t had to do anything to our cars and we have prepared as normal and as you can see with this media session everything is low key and the attention is over there and we like that.”

YOU HAVE WORKED WITH SHANE BEFORE AND KIND OF BEEN THROUGH THIS BEFORE AND HOW WILL HE HANDLE THIS AND WHAT DOES HE DO BEST THAT WILL HELP HIM HANDLE THIS? “Well I think obviously there is a lot of attention and I think that this isn’t Nationwide racing so it’s a much different level but he will stay level-headed through the whole thing and pay attention to the things that need to be paid attention to and the only thing you can do now is to go out and race and that is about it so I think he will do fine.”

IN GENERAL DO YOU THINK THAT A TEAM SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO KEEP THE WIN IF THEIR CAR IS FOUND TO BE ILLEGAL IN THE RACE THAT THEY WON? “That is the way that it has always been done and I think that with the way that the inspection process is on Tuesday morning that it would be hard to go back and change all those newspaper articles on Sunday.”

WHAT IS IT GOING TO TAKE TO BE GOOD HERE THIS WEEKEND? “We ran really well here the first race so we have a really good place to start.  We sat down on Monday and looked at all the notes and practices and things that we did the last race and I feel really good about where we start with our practice set-ups and I think for us………….the hardest thing this weekend is going to be judging where you need to have your car with a twenty degree difference in the weather from today to Sunday.   That is going to be the hardest part that we have to deal with this weekend.”

CAN YOU PUT INTO WORDS WHAT IT IS LIKE TO LAND THE CAR IN THE CORNER HERE? “You have to decide whether you want to ease past the bump or let off before the bump so it’s one of those things where your car has to land right in order to make the corner go as fast as possible to get back to the throttle and carry that speed through the center of the corner and it’s just turn one that you have that landing but it’s quite a sensation.”

IS IT EASY TO PUT THE PERFORMANCE YOU HAD AT NEW HAMPSHIRE BEHIND YOU SINCE THERE ARE NOT ANY OTHER TRACKS LEFT IN THE CHASE LIKE IT? “We just had a bad day at New Hampshire really from the time that the gate opened for practice and we know that we were running well at the end of last week’s race and wound up getting a finish and that is what this team has been about all year and that is to just keep digging until they close the gate so it was a good finish to start the week and there has been some discussion about how bad it was and we came away with a fifth-place finish and those are the kinds of things that you have to do when you are having a bad day.”

BUT YOU HAVE TO BE BETTER THAN THAT AT SOME POINT DURING THE CHASE TO WIN THE CHASE DON’T YOU THINK? “If we finish fifth every week, we will win.”

About Chevrolet: Chevrolet is a global automotive brand, with annual sales of about 3.5 million vehicles in more than 130 countries. Chevrolet provides consumers with fuel-efficient, safe and reliable vehicles that deliver high quality, expressive design, spirited performance and value. In the U.S., the Chevrolet portfolio includes: iconic performance cars, such as Corvette and Camaro; dependable, long lasting pickups and SUVs, such as Silverado and Suburban; and award-winning passenger cars and crossovers, such as Malibu, Equinox and Traverse. Chevrolet also offers “gas-friendly to gas-free” solutions including the Cruze Eco and Volt, both arriving in late 2010. Cruze Eco will offer up to 40 mpg highway while the Chevrolet Volt will offer up to 40 miles of electric, gas-free driving and an additional 300 miles of extended range (based on GM testing; official EPA estimates not yet available). Most new Chevrolet models offer OnStar safety, security, and convenience technologies including OnStar Hands-Free Calling, Automatic Crash Response, and Stolen Vehicle Slowdown. More information regarding Chevrolet models, fuel solutions, and OnStar availability can be found at www.chevrolet.com.

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES

AAA 400

DOVER INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY

TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT

SEPTEMBER 24, 2010

JEFF BURTON, NO. 31 CATERPILLAR CHEVROLET, met with media and discussed Clint Bowyer’s post-Loudon penalty, how it affects everybody at RCR, pressure in the Chase, and more. Full Transcript:

 

BUSY WEEK THIS WEEKEND IN DOVER, GIVE US YOUR THOUGHTS

“We had a real strong run last week which is what we needed to do and we needed to find a way to step up our speed a little bit and I thought we did that.  We struggled a little bit in practice last week but we found a way to be fast when it counted but unfortunately we just came up a bit short on fuel.  The 33 was able to make it and we weren’t so that was disappointing and we actually ran out…..the car missed, with two to go and still finished 15^th so part of me feels like it didn’t work out as good for us as it could have for sure but a part of me says it was a whole lot better than it could have been. Sputtering with two to go and still finishing 15^th was a blessing so it’s on to the next race and again I feel good about the effort that we put out there and we will see where that gets us this week.”

IN LIGHT OF CLINT’S PENALTY HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE LEGALITY OF YOUR CARS AND HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT RCR’S REPUTATION?

“Well we…………and I am not going to spend a whole lot of time talking about this and if it’s okay I will say everything I want to say about it in one shot here. 

We have a lot of belief at RCR about integrity and about doing things the right way and by no means did the 33 car go to the racetrack believing in any form or fashion that they would have any trouble with tech whatsoever.  Like other teams, they had been warned the week before that, that NASCAR was telling them that they were really, really close to the tolerances with that car and so there was an effort put in so that there was no issue. And of course, there was an issue, so there is a circumstance there that is an odd circumstance and I’m obviously not questioning NASCAR’s measuring abilities because it’s pretty precise the way they do it but the intent was certainly to be 100% legal and to the point where it was very clear that car was going to the tech center so there is a circumstance that is odd there that Richard has made it pretty clear that he is going to appeal it and his grounds for appeal…….he has stated so that is what it is and its disappointing. 

We feel 100% confident that we don’t have a problem with our cars based on the fact that we’ve not had a problem with our cars.  Prior to the last two weeks there has been no issue and we just have to believe in our measurements and believe in what we know and what we have learned and it is what it is so it’s a very disappointing thing for the 33 and its made us all look very closely at what we are doing and certainly there is a cause for concern for the other two teams and certainly for the 33 as well but we believe we have the matter under control.”

ABOUT WHETHER ALL CARS SHOULD BE TAKEN TO THE TECH CENTER AFTER EACH RACE

“Well, the more cars they take to the tech center, the more cars are thoroughly looked at.  That is not to say that I want to insinuate that I think there are a bunch of illegal cars running around out there.  I don’t believe that.  I believe that in this case there is something that happened during the race that changed.  I know the work that went into that car to make sure that it was legal.  There was a tremendous amount of effort after Richmond to make sure it was legal so something odd happened. 

The more cars they take to the tech center, the more cars will be looked at in a more thorough fashion.  I think a lot of fans don’t realize the difference between teching at the race track and teching at the tech center. 

The inspection process here is as diligent as it can be but there is no way to measure the cars here the way they can measure them there.  It’s just impossible so just so the fans understand, the first step in the inspection process happens here.  And the final step, which is a more thorough view, happens there.  And a lot of people are concerned as to how can a car pass tech pre and post race but not pass on Tuesday and people need to understand that the way that you can measure it at the tech center is completely different than the way that you can measure it here.  And I feel there is a great deal of confusion about that.”

ABOUT HOW HARD THE ORGANIZATION HAS WORKED TO GET BACK TO THE TOP AND WHEN ONE CAR HAS AN ISSUE, DOES IT AFFECT MORAL BACK AT THE SHOP?

“Well we all work very well together, we work hard together and when a team is doing well or a team is having a problem, we have all done it together in one form or fashion so I am not standing here today to say that it’s a 33 problem or a 31 problem, it’s a RCR problem.  And if it’s an RCR problem then we all need to pitch in together to fix it and it just is what it is. I just need to think that everyone needs to understand that everyone knew that car was going to the tech center.  And there is no way that something intentionally would have been done to make that car illegal.  You know what I mean?  That is what is difficult about this situation.

And after they got close to the tolerances after Richmond, NASCAR……….the same way they did last year with the Hendrick cars you know when you start getting close and they start looking closer at you – which by the way they should.  You know? 

No one is questioning NASCAR’s ability to measure cars and no one is questioning the fact that they should measure cars.  You know, when you start pushing the edge and they start looking at you close, they need to look at you closer. They are here to police the sport and so when you

get real close, but you are still legal, they are going to start looking at you harder so Richard was aware that most likely they were going to take that car  so it wasn’t a surprise that whether that car won the race or finished 30^th it was going to the tech center.”

 

DO YOU AGREE WITH THE PRECEDENT THAT NASCAR DOES NOT TAKE AWAY WINS?

“I understand why it is and I understand why some people don’t agree with it and I understand why some people agree with it.  They have always been consistent with it at this level, but they haven’t always been consistent with it at lower levels. 

I had a win taken away from me in the Nationwide Series years ago.  Won the race and was deemed illegal when the race was over and they did take the win away.  But at this level they seemed to never have done that.

I think consistency is important and if NASCAR decides at some point if you are illegal and they are going to take the win away there needs to be an announcement about that.  You know what I mean?  At this point they just can’t jump up and say, ‘well, we will take the win away’, because they never have at this level so if they decide to change that policy then that would need to be done between years or would have to be done with an announcement like, ‘hey in the future we are going to…..’.  It couldn’t just be a deal where they say ‘well, in this situation we are going to do that’, because that would be inconsistent with what they have done with every other car.”

ABOUT PRESSURE IN THE CHASE AND DOES IT ESCALATE OR DOES IT EXIST?

“I think the reality of the situation is a lot clearer this time of year. You know.   When we went to New Hampshire there were 12 teams that felt like they had a chance to win the race and win the championship.  Which meant there were a lot of teams that knew they couldn’t.

When you left New Hampshire there were teams that had less of chance to win the championship and that continues throughout the ten.  And so there is pressure when you start to become one of those teams that aren’t going to have a chance because everything you have built your whole year is about winning the championship and then there is pressure for the teams that are in position to win a championship because now it’s that they have to execute.

I think it’s important to note that only experience can teach you this, is that for a field goal kicker that is kicking a field goal…….it doesn’t matter that its one second to go in the game and a tie ballgame or it’s the first quarter and you are up by 21.  You still kick the ball the same way and if you don’t…….you choke. 

So the situation that you are in can’t drive the way you respond to it.  You have to respond to the situation the same all the time.  And when you don’t, I think that is when the mistakes are made.   So, it’s a good pressure.  It’s a bad pressure when you start getting yourself out of it but it’s a good pressure when you are in the hunt and you feel like you have a chance.  If you don’t like that pressure……..get the hell out.  It’s what we do and it’s what sports are all about.”

 

ABOUT WHETHER NASCAR SHOULD HAVE THE 12 CHASE DRIVERS QUALIFY AS A GROUP SO THAT WEATHER CHANGES DON’T CREATE AN ADVANTAGE FOR SOME DURING QUALIFYING

“I don’t know if that shows how important qualifying is or if it shows how important it is to have a fast car.  If the car that qualified second, had qualified 10^th, he wouldn’t have led all those laps because he would have had a car that could win the race.  So I think that track position is a great thing but a 10^th place car starting third isn’t going to go and lead a hundred and some laps.  Because he is going to fall back.  So the fast cars that are up front are going to be hard to deal with.  And what we had last week…….especially Clint, was that we had a fast car starting up front and he went and led a tremendous amount of laps. 

So where all the cars qualify is something to talk about and it might make it interesting to get everybody qualified at the same time.  You know what I mean?  If you qualified 20^th in the field then you ought to start 20^th.  If you are the fifth fastest Chase guy, you shouldn’t start fifth.  You would start where you qualify and that is the same way they pay points.  But it might be interesting for all the 12 Chase drivers to be the last 12 cars to go out and qualify or something like that.”

About Chevrolet: Chevrolet is a global automotive brand, with annual sales of about 3.5 million vehicles in more than 130 countries. Chevrolet provides consumers with fuel-efficient, safe and reliable vehicles that deliver high quality, expressive design, spirited performance and value. In the U.S., the Chevrolet portfolio includes: iconic performance cars, such as Corvette and Camaro; dependable, long lasting pickups and SUVs, such as Silverado and Suburban; and award-winning passenger cars and crossovers, such as Malibu, Equinox and Traverse. Chevrolet also offers “gas-friendly to gas-free” solutions including the Cruze Eco and Volt, both arriving in late 2010. Cruze Eco will offer up to 40 mpg highway while the Chevrolet Volt will offer up to 40 miles of electric, gas-free driving and an additional 300 miles of extended range (based on GM testing; official EPA estimates not yet available). Most new Chevrolet models offer OnStar safety, security, and convenience technologies including OnStar Hands-Free Calling, Automatic Crash Response, and Stolen Vehicle Slowdown. More information regarding Chevrolet models, fuel solutions, and OnStar availability can be found at www.chevrolet.com.

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES

AAA 400

DOVER INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY

TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT

SEPTEMBER 24, 2010

 

CLINT BOWYER, NO. 33 BB&T CHEVROLET met with media and discussed last week’s post-race inspection following his win at Loudon, NASCAR’s subsequent penalties and more. Full Transcript:

 

TALK ABOUT YOUR WEEK

“You always want to win races. You’re very proud to win races and I’m still proud of that win. I don’t believe that we did anything wrong. I guess I’ll go on record and say that, first and foremost, in my opinion. I want my fans to know that. There is a lot of integrity that goes into this sport. I’m damn proud of being a part of this sport. I love this sport and I wouldn’t cheat to win a race in this sport. We have a lot more integrity for myself and our race team at RCR. Hopefully I only have to do this once. I woke up about 6 o’clock this morning, which is uncharacteristic for me. I just grabbed a notebook and wanted to make some notes. You know, for myself and for you guys. I know a lot of you guys have a lot of questions; trust me; there are a hell of a lot of questions that I have too. And I’m going to go through them. I like to have facts when something like this comes down. I’ve got a timeline of facts.

“I’m going to start with number one: We were warned after Richmond that the car was too close to tolerances. Number two: We were told by NASCAR they were taking the car after New Hampshire, no matter what; first or 43^rd. Number three: The car passed pre and post-race inspections at the race track. Number four: Monday, the rumors started about all this and in my opinion, forced NASCAR’s hand to do something about it. Number five: Wednesday came and it was a 150-point fine. And the sixth thing, and at least an answer, you know, I’m looking for answers too. There are several things but one of them is a two-ton wrecker pushed me to victory lane.

“I’m going to elaborate on them. I think the first one (is) we were warned that both sides of the car were high after Richmond. Both sides. After the race in New Hampshire, after it got back to the Tech Center or whatever they call that place, just the left side was high. I think this shows that we definitely had it fixed; something within that race happened.

“Number two: after being told that they were taking the car, we made double-sure before it went to New Hampshire that that car was right. Who in their right mind, knowing that they’re going to take that car, wouldn’t have made triple sure that thing was right before it went to the race track? I could have hit the wall doing a burnout, I could have done a lot of things that other drivers have done and that other teams have done in a post-race celebration this year. I didn’t. We didn’t want to push that in NASCAR’s face. We appreciated them warning us on the fact and we tried to fix the situation. They told us about that situation Wednesday. Wednesday the car leaves. We had about two hours to jump on that car and make sure that thing was right.

“And number three:  The car passed pre and post-race inspection, and three days later get such a huge fine? They take the car apart, completely apart to measure this thing and in my opinion that’s not the way the car was raced on the race track. I think that’s something to be said.

“Number four: Once the rumors started it wasn’t long before the penalty. I think NASCAR has a lot of problems with a lot of cars on the race track being out of the box and I think they needed to set an example with something.

“Number five: I don’t think the penalty fits the crime. Sixty-thousandths of an inch, folks. Grab a quarter out of your pocket (holds up a quarter). That’s sixty-five thousandths of an inch thick. Less than the thickness of that quarter right there resulted in a 150-point fine. Before or after this, grab that and ask yourself if that was a performance-enhancing thing right there.

“And the last thing, my question is, is it possible that a two-ton wrecker could bend the quarter panel of this thing sixty thousandths of an inch? You have to ask yourself that. I got hit during the race, turned a couple of times; racing is tough. Now if this thing was knocked out a half of an inch, I could see something being made. But if it passed the height sticks afterwards, the very height sticks the No. 48 (Jimmie Johnson) and the No. 11 (Denny Hamlin) did not pass, then miraculously enough when that same pit crew pushed it back around after 20 minutes it passed, that was pretty amazing. You know it passed those same sticks.

“And, you know, my dad owns a towing business and has since I was born in 1979. I know a little something about wreckers. About 15 years ago they took them push bumpers off the front of them for this very reason. I remember back when people used to come (during) a snow storm and (say) please, push me out of the snow bank. You push them out of the snow bank and two days later they’d show up with a body shop bill in their hand, wanting you to pay the body shop bill for the damage you did to the back of their car. This could happen. That’s the only question I had for you guys (media) is to ask yourselves if it is possible for that to happen. That’s all I’ve got to say.”

YOU SAID YOU FELT LIKE NASCAR’S HAND WAS FORCED BY THE RUMORS THAT STARTED TO FLOW MONDAY MORNING. DO YOU THINK YOU WOULD NOT HAVE GOTTEN THE PENALTY HAD THOSE RUMORS NOT COME OUT? THOSE RUMORS COMING FROM AN INSPECTION AT THE R&D CENTER, WHERE DO YOU THINK THOSE RUMORS BEGAN AND HOW DID THEY GET OUT AND ARE YOU ANGRY ABOUT THAT?

“I’m angry about the whole thing. This tarnished my win. It’s something you’re very proud of. I’m very angry about it. I’m angry for my fans for our sponsors. I’m angry about it. I think that there are a lot of things a lot of people don’t know about, media included, and I don’t understand it about as much as you do. So I found myself all week, instead of celebrating a win, trying to figure out what the hell they were talking about. The rumors, in my opinion, I truly believe that these rumors forced their hand in making a decision.

 

YOU SAID YOU THINK NASCAR HAS A LOT OF PROBLEMS WITH A LOT OF CARS BEING OUT OF THE BOX. WHAT PERCENTAGE OF THE CARS ARE ILLEGAL EACH WEEKEND? HOW DO YOU RESOLVE THAT ISSUE?

“I think NASCAR does a great job of policing and maintaining common ground. Look at the racing.

”Now last year and the last two years, when an organization was as dominant as they were, do you think they had something up on the competition? This year it’s as close as it’s ever been. I think it’s pretty damn good racing on the race track. I think it’s the best as we’ve had since this car was put into inception. So, I think they do do a good job. I respect the fact that what they have to look at each and every week. My personal opinion, I don’t like the R&D Center. I think what you bring to the race track is what they inspect. And, you know? Three days later the car the car (is) completely taken apart from something that you haven’t even raced. I mean it’s a completely different vehicle, you know? You take the suspension off the thing; these are all components that bolt on. It ain’t a decal you took off. These things are bolted on and could interrupt the way the car is measured. How can that possibly be kept in the same box?

“So I think there is a lot of cars that are close to being on the out of the box side. I think that’s what crew members and crew chiefs are paid to do and you know, yeah; I do think there are a lot of cars that are very close. I think they do a good job. I appreciated the fact that they warned us, you know? That’s why we tried to fix the thing. That’s why we did fix the thing before it went to New Hampshire so this wouldn’t happen. Not to rub it in their face and say well you know what you’re talking about, we’re going to continue to do this and don’t think you’re going to do anything about it. I mean you’ve got to appreciate this sport and respect the sport and we darn sure did and it bit us in the rear for it.”

THAT WIN HAD BEEN A LONG-TIME COMING FOR YOUR SPONSOR, CAN YOU JUST TALK ABOUT THEIR REACTION AND HOW MUCH OF A CONCERN THAT IS? “I hope they are happy. Like I said, if of any of you guys, or anybody else, think I won that race because not the quarter panels are high; not because the splitter is this much higher; because of some measurement that nobody even understands in this room or watching on TV, if that won me that race, I would gladly give it back to them. We won that race on fuel mileage is what it ended up being. If you want to start looking at something, look at our fuel cell. How could the quarter panels have won that race? I’m proud of that win. I am proud of giving General Mills their first win in this sport. They’ve sponsored this sport for a long time and that was a good win for all of us.”

WAS ANYONE WITH RCR ALLOWED TO GO TO THE TECH CENTER AND WITNESS THE INSPECTION EARLIER THIS WEEK? ALSO, HAS THERE BEEN ANY DIALOGUE AND WHAT HAS THAT BEEN LIKE WITH NASCAR OVER THE CONTENTION THAT THE TOW TRUCK PUSH ACTUALLY CAUSED THIS INFRACTION? “They do call you down there. At what point in the inspection do they call you down, who knows. Had they looked at the car before? Probably. That is the thing about the R & D center that I don’t like. It’s, it’s…who knows. You don’t know. To answer that question, I don’t have a clue. They were down there at one part of the inspection. I don’t know if it was the part that mattered or not. I do know, one other fact, the left rear quarter panel was split. The bumper cover from the quarter panel, the rivets were pulled out of it and the rear quarter panel was kinked. You know. We have a picture of that. I know that if it was hit hard enough to have split that…like I’m saying, it wasn’t a half of an inch. You are talking less than the thickness of that quarter right there. Could it have moved it that much? I would say that was my only explanation of the whole mess.”

ON THE DIALOGUE WITH RCR AND NASCAR OF THE TOW TRUCK DOING THE DAMAGE: “They just acted like that was…their mind was set before the wrecker even came into the picture. You know, I mean, that was the thing. When I told you guys earlier this week that I show up on Friday with my helmet and Friday to Sunday is my job, anything that happens to those cars Monday through Friday, I don’t really know about. I mean, I found out about it after the fact. I’m the one after the crew came to me and said ‘Well, somehow that car is high again’, I said “Did you tell them that there was a semi pushing the thing after the race?’ That is a Freightliner. I wasn’t a car. It wasn’t a pace car pushing it around there, it was a Freightliner.”

IN OTHER SITUATIONS LIKE THESE, WE HAVE SEEN DRIVERS GO THE PC ROUTE, NOT REALLY GO ON THE DEFENSIVE. WHY DO YOU THINK IT IS IMPORTANT FOR YOU TO MAKE A STAND? “Because I feel like we were warned. We were told they were going to take the car. We had no reason to take that thing there out of the box. We knew they were taking that car and we knew that was our good shot at winning the race and it didn’t matter whether we finished 43rd or won. They were going to take that car and they were going to look at it. And after being warned, if it was out of the box again, they were going to penalize us. They already told us that. Why in the hell would you take a car to the race track knowing that they are going to take the car and they are going to penalize you if it is out of the box?

“We fixed the problem and that is the only reason I am defensive about this. Richard grabbed everybody, I’m telling you it was an ugly meeting after that warning. This isn’t something that was taken lightly. He took everybody involved with that thing from the fabrication shop to me to Mike Dillon…everybody. Scott Miller, crew chief and it was a butt-chewing and it was a make sure, make damn sure that car passes tech when we go. I’m telling you, everybody did that. That is why I am defensive.”

DO YOU HAVE ANY CONCERNS ABOUT THE DOVER CAR THIS WEEKEND DID YOU TAKE IT TO R & D TO MAKE SURE IT WAS OK? “Good gawd, I’m talking about last week. It is hard to even focus on this week. That is what sucks. We are riding a momentum wave, huge boost of confidence over the last month and we get to Dover and all this mess. This is a good race track for me. Won two Nationwide races here and love this race track. I think we can win again. I sure hope so. I can’t wait to be back in this very room talking about ‘wonder if this thing is illegal?’. I bet not.”

DO YOU KNOW IF THE CAR’S ALREADY BEEN?

“I just answered that. I don’t know.”

DOES APPEALING THE PENALTY TAKE ENERGY FROM RICHARD CHILDRESS RACING RIGHT NOW? DOES THAT PULL CHAMPIONSHIP EFFORT THAT NEEDS TO BE MOUNTED WITH ALL FORCES?

“You know, it could. And that’s where all the frustration is. I apologize for coming in here and being stern. This isn’t me. This is completely out of character for me. I don’t like being in this situation. But if it paints you into the corner you’ve got to be able to react to it. Does it take away? I’m sure it does. I apologize to Kevin Harvick and Jeff Burton and everybody at RCR for that very reason. This is something that shouldn’t have happened; something that’s completely complicated. I think there is about probably 80 percent of the people in the media and everywhere else that don’t understand what the infraction even was.”

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